Lehigh Valley-area college athletes compete on national level

Call staff reports

What national events are Lehigh Valley-area college athletes participating in?

Kutztown University senior Lanny Buck has had great success in his four-year career with the men's track and field team. He dons the maroon and gold for the final time this weekend as he competes in the pole vault at the NCAA Division II National Championships in Allendale, Mich., home of Grand Valley State University.

The finals for the pole vault begin at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Buck is one of 20 competitors in the field and one of two from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).

Buck, the reigning and defending PSAC outdoor champion, is a four-time national qualifier for the Golden Bears. He enters his third straight outdoor championship and made his first career indoor championship this year, in which he earned his first All-America honor with a 12th place finish.

The Palmerton native has a top finish of 13th from the 2013 outdoor championship.

Buck is three-time all-region and two-time All-PSAC performer, and holds the second-highest outdoor pole vault mark in school history (16-8.75).

The senior holds the top mark in the region and ninth in Division II this year at 16-8.75 a mark he reached at Shippensburg University's Paul Kaiser Classic on April 25.

Moravian track athletes at nationals: The Moravian College track and field teams had a pair of competitors on the opening day of action Thursday at the 2015 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships being hosted by St. Lawrence University.

Junior Gavin Bailey was ninth in his flight with a top long jump of 6.90 meters (22-7.75) and finished 16th of the 20 student-athletes in the event.

Senior Morgan Redmond ran in Thursday's preliminary heats of the 400-meter hurdles. She had a time of 1:03.18, the second fastest time in school history and just 0.6 seconds off her school record, in the final race of her collegiate career. Redmond was sixth in her heat and finished 15th overall of the 22 runners in the preliminaries.

Follow cars to Pocono Raceway: The second-annual Pennsylvania Hauler Parade, in advance of the Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 at Pocono Raceway, will take place on Thursday, June 4. Race fans are encouraged to come out and watch the parade in Harrisburg and follow the rest of the day's events on Twitter by using #haulerPArade.

There will be a fan event before the parade from 10-11:30 am at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg.

At 11:45, Harrisburg Police and Fire vehicles, along with the Pocono Raceway Chevrolet SS Pace Car, will lead the haulers from the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex towards Harrisburg before heading toward Pocono by traveling on I-81 North, I-80 East, taking exit 284 (Blakesless) onto Route 115 South and then to Pocono Raceway in Long Pond.

Kutztown rugby teams to compete in Philly tourney: The Kutztown University women's sevens rugby team is set to return to the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship at PPL Park, Philadelphia, May 29-31. According to the school, this will be the third straight appearance for the Golden Bears in the tournament.

On Friday the women will face the University of Arizona, Life University and Notre Dame College in pool play. The schedule for the remainder of the weekend will depend on the outcome of Friday's games.

KU faced Notre Dame College in a 68-14 loss in the semifinal round of the American Collegiate Rugby Association Division II Fifteens Championship in December. Notre Dame went on to win that tournament beating Winona State in the finals.

The Kutztown University men will also return to the tournament this year, looking to avenge their 2014 final round.

In last year's tournament, the Kutztown Golden Bears made an impressive run for the title falling 21-24 to two-time champion the University of California, Berkley, in a championship game that was broadcast live, nationwide on NBC. KU finished in second place out of 20 teams. In 2013 the team finished in seventh place.

On Saturday, May 30, the men will face Air Force, Navy and Temple University in pool play.